Keep your glass slippers, the Charlotte 49ers came for the trophy.

Tonight Charlotte went toe to toe with the nation’s stingiest defense, that of the Creighton Blue Jays and managed to be just as stingy. Following a double shut-out through two overtime periods the Niners prevailed over the second-seeded Blue Jays in Penalty Kicks, 4-1, to earn a spot in the Championship Game on Sunday against the first-seeded UNC-Chapel Hill Tar Heels, 4PM EST ESPNU.

The  first half wasn’t easy for the Niners to survive as Creighton controlled the midfield and got multiple chances at our goal while Charlotte had trouble getting possessions to their side of the field. The closest call was when the Blue Jays saw the ball ricochet off our cross-bar from Isaac Cowles’ foot, as he was in poor position following a rebound.

“I think everybody watching the game could see that Creighton was definitely the better team in the first half,” said Head Coach Jeremy Gunn, “They out-passed us, they were sharper, they were asking more questions. But what was incredible from our players was that we were bending but we didn’t break.”

Despite Creighton’s control of the first half, the score was still Nil-Nil, allowing the Niners to regroup at the break.

“On another day they might have put away one of their early chances, then it would have been much tougher for us.”

As the second-half progressed, the Charlotte 49ers got better, and better. Quelling every opportunity Creighton created, and making more and more of their own. Donnie Smith emerged as our offensive creator, bringing the ball up the left flank with unflagging courage he crossed the ball into the box wear freshman phenom Giuseppe Gentile was waiting for it, but his shot went straight into the hands of Creighton’s goalie Brian Holt, one of the best at the collegiate level.

“By midway through the second half it was an even game that any team could win,” said Coach Gunn of the Niners’ increased level of play in the second0half, “Again, they were having some good chances, we were having some good chances.”

In the waning moments of overtime Donnie Smith found a clearing and made his way of the left wing and into the box and fired a laser with a good angle that Holt punched out of bounds. The Blue Jays were at the will of the 49ers when extra time expired, and the penalty kicks exemplified that.

Following two years of defeat at the hand of PK’s, the Niners had confidence after taking the win at UConn a week ago, especially with PK specialist Gavin Dawes tending goal. Dawes took the net in PK’s last week, settling in to the role while Klay Davis continues to be outstanding while the clock is running, including several acrobatic saves to stop the Blue Jays from scoring.

The Niners and Jays exchanged goals the first round of PK’s, with Tyler Gibson scoring for Charlotte. The second go-round is when things got interesting, as Gavin Dawes saved Kris Clark’s attempt to answer Donnie Smith’s goal. Last week’s hero Charles Rodriquez put the 49ers up 3-1 followed by Ethan Finlay kicking the ball over goal, allowing Isaac Cowles with a chance to kick the game-winner.

Before taking his shot, Dawes calmed down Cowles by saying, “”No pressure, just have fun.”

Cowles had a lot of fun, sending the shot right while Holt dove left, and the ticket was stamped to the Charlotte 49ers first trip to any title game.

“You have to find a winner, it’s very, very cruel, very, very tough for Creighton,” Coach Gunn remarked, having been on the very, very, cruel end of things the last two seasons, “The only thing we can say is how composed our guys were through the shootout yet again. To go out and do what they did, they hit the ball so well Just unbelievable.”

The Tar Heels won on penalty kicks as well, after a 2-2 draw with the UCLA Bruins. Both teams looked notably gassed as time ran out, Charlotte’s heavy substitution of mid-fielders and the front line could pay dividends on Sunday, along with the extra three hours of rest.

The Tar Heels can be scored on, allowing four goals through tier four games in the tournament so far with the easy path of a 1-seed. The 49ers have outscored their opponents 8-3 in their 5-games with the path of an unseeded team, including the defending National Champs Akron, the 3-seed UConn, and the 2-seed Creighton. In an August exhibition against UNC-Chapel Hill, Charlotte struck first but were down 2-1 when play was halted because of weather after 70 minutes.  This is a different Charlotte team that played that night, their season turned after a 3-1 loss at Maryland, leading to a more physical and aggressive style of play. The Charlotte 49ers can beat anyone, and on Sunday that includes the Tar Heels.

“There is nothing new that any team here poses that we couldn’t handle We come out and play our Charlotte way and just keep going,” said Isaac Cowles before UCLA and UNC-Chapel Hill settled their bout.

The Tar Heels have a way of wedging themselves between everything this university wants and on Sunday we get to shove them emphatically out of the way, Niner Nation.